When Campbeltown Council meets for the first time since the September 14 elections to elect a new mayor there will be eight new faces around the chamber.
That’s a majority in the 15 seat chamber, something that hasn’t happened in decades.
Among them are two young business people from the Campbelltown CBD.
Seta Berbari (Community First Totally Independent Party) runs Seta’s café in Dumaresq Street, while Khaled Halabi (Community Voice of Australia) has a tobacconist outlet in Queen Street.
Another new face will be Adam Zahra, a member of One Nation who was elected as an independent.
Macarthur Greens will provide two of the new faces, lead candidate Jayden Rivera and Theo Triebels.
Sustainable Australia Party – Stop Overdevelopment/Corruption also successfully got its lead candidate, Cameron McEwan, elected to council.
The last two new faces are from the Labor Party, Isabella Wisniewska and Ash Rahman.
Returning to the council after being re-elected are Josh Cotter and Warren Morrison of the Community First Totally Independent Party. They are pictured below.
Labor’s “old faces’’ will be leader Darcy Lound, Meg Oates, Masood Chowdhury and Karen Hunt.
Joining them will be Masud Khalil of Community Voice of Australia, who has won a second term.
The first order of business at the first meeting of the new council on October 15 will be to elect a mayor for the next two years.
And while the deals are still being negotiated, it is increasingly likely that Darcy Lound, as the leader of the biggest block on council with six votes, will get the nod.
There’s speculation that Labor will join with the two Greens councillors for an eight seat majority that will deliver them the top job.
The only other obvious candidate would be Josh Cotter, who now has three votes in the chamber, making his the biggest block after Labor.
Cr Cotter, who was himself re-elected for a second term, may throw his hat in the ring even if he doesn’t have the numbers.
Campbelltown City Council CEO Lindy Deitz meanwhile has welcomed the declaration of the poll by the NSW Electoral Commission.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming our new and returning councillors and working together over the next four years to continue delivering our strategic priorities and important services for the community,” Ms Deitz said.
“These next four years promise to be an exciting time for Campbelltown as we progress a series of significant social infrastructure projects through the Western Sydney Infrastructure Grants Program alongside strategic activities like the City Centre Planning Proposal and the ongoing services and programs that the community relies on.
“These projects taking shape will enhance both the economic and cultural profile of our city.”
I have lived here since 1980, and in the last 10 years the Campbelltown district has been on a downhill slide.
Queen St is a mess – all 2 dollar shops, some of the restaurants and cafes are struggling, and there are no public toilets.
Campbelltown Council don’t seem to have any idea of what to do to resolve the problems or want to resolve the problem.
Maybe we need people who live in the area, then they can see first hand what is going on.